Some quick thoughts from the tournament, what the staff and broadcasters were saying, and some personal observations:
First and foremost, this is a prospect on prospect 3 v 3 tournament. All 8 draftees from this year were on the ice. There is not a lot of stock to be put into the competition, so it is difficult to pull traits and plays that would translate at the AHL or NHL level. The opening rounds were 6 minutes, the semi finals were (I believe) 8 minutes and the final game was 10 minutes. It looked like a no stop clock unless a penalty shot (hybrid, will explain later) was awarded or until the final 2 minutes of play.
Beyond that, from highlights and from on ice play there were certainly glimpses of Danielson and Axel Sandin Pellikka that were promising. Pellikka has very smooth edges and strides. There were drills where even Buium remarked that ASP looked very smooth. Needs muscle and another year in Europe (especially with an opportunity to bond with Nygard) feels like a good decision.
Danielson is a bit more difficult. There are plays where he just seems to take over the ice, but again this was against other prospects. Still, even on turnovers the young center remained engaged and would try to regain possession. Grand Rapids coach Dan Watson seemed to really like his game and when Horcoff, Cleary or Draper were pushed to “guess” which prospects may be able to take a spot away in Detroit his name was mentioned even in more enthusiasm than Kasper or Mazur. The problem would be reps. If he’s not getting at least 2nd line minutes is it worth it? Whereas Mazur seems to be headed toward a bottom 6 role if he pans out so if he outplays a veteran for one of those spots it may be a net gain.
Then the question, but there’s no room. This is not intended to sound like a callous remark, but there are veterans that the team may not worry about losing on waivers, and potentially even be fine with the loss if it did happen. A Veteran opening up 1 million is enough to put an ELC on the roster and fit. All that said, it is an uphill battle for the prospects to show they are better served at that level in terms of deployment, reps and minutes than at the lower pro levels.
Trey Augustine has a lot of presence/maturity for a very young goal tender. He and Savage are both slated to return to be at MSU, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see Augustine with a season ending promotion and a spot in Grand Rapids next season.
In terms of summer assignments, the current group is well taken care of. I started watching training camps in 2009, and there were general nutrition classes, social media classes (i.e. don’t post anything ever class) were either new or hadn’t yet started. It was typically a personalized challenge for the summer months in terms of physical work. Now, with the incredible player dining facilities and personal chef, there is an individual specific diet for every player. The team also speaks to the player and their club about what they’d like to see in terms of development. Jakub Kindl joined for in game commentary and talked about dietary differences from 2005 and now. Nutrition for the organization has come a long way thanks, in part, to Jiri Fischer’s own recovery from his career ending heart issues. The players can have chef prepared breakfast and lunch at the facilities and “hang around” more than in the past. The dietary plan alone gives a prospect something that will benefit them for the rest of their lives as they learn about how they individually process foods.
It was a good tournament for Hunter Johannes. He showed good vision and patience in scoring with the ability to pick the corners near side and far side. Again, this was against prospects so it will be interesting to see how his season goes but his shots looked very solid. The overall comfort in the 3 on 3 format has settled in even with the 18 year olds. Each group seemed able to decide to regroup in the neutral zone for a more formative offensive attack as opposed to a lot of one and done hockey that goes 200 feet every 20-30 seconds. It’s a fun watch if you have the time, but I expect there will be hilight reels made available. The whirlwind for the draftees will finally settle down as all 8 were loaded on a plane last Saturday, set up shop on Sunday and started camp Monday. The prospects tournament against the other teams may be a better indicator at fall training camp and certainly the main camp and preseason will signal to any major steps forward.
Until then, it’s nutrition and workouts after a weekend breather.
Today’s teams for the prospect 3v3 tourney as we wrap #DRWDC.
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 5, 2024
Game 1
Watson vs Mikesch
Hunter Johannes(21) scored on a nice snap shot at :55
1-0 Watson
Brandsegg-Nygard scored at 2:35. Nice speed as he chased down a puck and went 1 on 0
2-0 Watson
Mitt scored for Mikesch with just over a minute left
2-1 Watson
2-1 final, MBD w game winner
Game 2
Lazary/Bain vs Walter’s/Hirschfield/
11 seconds in Danielson collected a rebound in tight and scored
1-0 Lazary
1-0 final
Game 3
Watson vs Lazary
With 2:27 left Lefave scored on a nice transition from the Dzone up ice. 1-0 Watson
Danielson then scored with 1:45 late short handed. Beautiful shot from the first rounder. 1-1
End of regulation 1-1
Danielson scores on shootout for the win.
2-1 Lazary
Game 4
Walters vs Mikesch
Solevy scores From behind, tucked behind goalie
1-0 Mikesch
With 1 min left Ali scores an empty net
2-0 Mikesch
Seconds later Savage scores for Walters
2-1 Mikesch
2-1 is final, empty net goal for the GW
Game 5
Walters vs Watson
B. Edwards tapped in a rebound to open the scoring
1-0 Walters
Forslund scores on an empty net with 17 seconds left
2-0 Walters
2-1 final
Game 6
Mikesch vs. Lazary
With 1:46 left Savage got to a quiet area in the neutral zone, took a pass and scored in tight.
36 seconds later Rychlovsky scored an empty net goal
2-0 Mikesch
2-0 final
Game 7 - semi final
Mikesch vs Walters
With 21 seconds left Finnie was the recepient of a nice pass on a 2 on 1 and went top left corner
Mikesch 1-0 winner - heading to final Walters eliminated
Game 8 - semi final
Lazary vs Watson
With 5:21 left Johannes was a left shot on the right side of a 2 on 1 and picked the far corner. 1-0 Watson
Ducet scored on an empty net with 1:10left 2-0 Watson
30 seconds left and James breaks in tucking the puck five hole
2-1 Watson
2-1 final Watson to finals, Lazary eliminated
Game 9 - finals
Mikesch vs. Watson
Johannes opened the scoring about 2:14 in. Another far side shot to pick the corner for his 3rd of the morning, first of the game
1-0 Watson
With 6:03 left Finnie picked up a drop pass skated to the left side faceoff test and snapped it home to tie the game. 1-1
With 37 seconds left Liam Dower Nilsson went hard to the net and skipped a back hand in to grab the lead 2-1 Watson
Final - 2-1 Watson for the championship win
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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